The invention herein relates to a container having an aerator incorporated therein. In particular, the container herein has utility as a humidifier for supplying a liquid to a gas to be humidified.
Generally humidifiers find use in inhalation therapy. During inhalation therapy while a gas is being administered to a patient, such gas usually has a relatively low moisture content. The administration of a dry gas to a patient is undesirable as such a dry gas can dry out the nasal and other passageways through which the gas may travel.
Many humidifiers currently in use in inhalation therapy consist of a container containing a liquid to be added to the gas. Such containers are one-chamber containers having a gas sparger or gas diffuser either incorporated or inserted therein. Such diffusers or spargers are generally made from a porous material which is inserted or permanently affixed within the humidifier container. These diffusers provide small bubbles of gas which is bubbled through the liquid within the container. As the gas bubbles through the liquid, some of the liquid becomes associated or trapped within the gas, thus increasing the moisture content of the gas. After the gas bubbles have erupted through the surface of the liquid, the gas is expelled or withdrawn from the humidifier. The gas withdrawn from the humidifier has an increased amount of liquid vapor and can be delivered to the recipient for his therapy. It is desirable to use small bubbles of the gas being bubbled through the liquid as these small bubbles provide a relatively large surface exposure to the liquid, and thus increases the opportunity for absorption of the liquid by the gas.
As the gas is bubbled through the humidifier and the liquid absorbed by the gas, the volume of the liquid in the humidifier decreases due to such absorption. One drawback of humidifiers using such a technique for humidifying a gas is that the path of travel of the bubbles is through the liquid in the humidifier. As the volume of the liquid decreases, the path of travel of the gas bubbles also decreases, resulting in a reduction of air bubble exposure to the liquid. As the exposure of the gas bubbles to the liquid decreases, there is less uptake of the liquid by the bubbles. There is thus a lower output of the humidifier in terms of cubic centimeters per hour and milligrams of liquid vapor per liter of gas. Another drawback of such humidifiers is that such humidifiers are unable to provide for the total use of the liquid which they contain. That is, a bubble flow path through the liquid is necessary for absorption of the liquid by the gas, however, as the liquid volume decreases it reaches a critical level through which any gas bubbles will be unable to take up an efficacious amount of the liquid.
It would be desirable to provide a humidifier having a relatively constant path of travel for the gas bubbles through the liquid in order to provide for a relatively constant absorption of the liquid by the gas bubbles. Such a humidifier would also be desirable as it could provide for a relatively uniform concentration of liquid in the vapor being administered to a recipient during inhalation therapy.